A comparative study of English and Chinese color words 中英文化中的颜色词汇对比.docVIP

A comparative study of English and Chinese color words中英文化中的颜色词汇对比 【关键词】颜色词；文化；含义；跨文化交际 Ⅰ. IntroductionColor is a visual phenomenon which is launched, reflected or caused through certain light wave by the object; it is one kind of visual essential features of human eye. But color words are the terms that describe colors which are used to describe of all things in the world.?The nature is colorful, and so many words can be used to describe it. Generally speaking, black symbolizes oppression, white shows purity and innocence, green brings vital force. However, the same color may have the different meaning in English and Chinese, because of the different history and culture. And after careful study of color words, it is easy to find that color words can produce various associations, which have a great effect on a person’s mood and behavior. That is the main reason that people use color words to explain their moral character, mood and opinions to things. In different countries, color words of cultural connotations are different. Cultural connotation means vocabulary is endowed with the meaning of metaphor, association, symbol and so on. Although color words of different languages have the same conceptual meaning, their connotative meanings are different. Different cultural background and habits of language expressions result in the different connotations of color words and they have a great effect on the cultural connotations of words. The association of acceptation and cultural image are cultural information gap. This gap influences people to understand the meaning of the same word. For example, black symbolizes melancholy and awfulness in some English-speaking countries. So, people in those countries are often in black when they attend a funeral or some important social gatherings. But, to Chinese people, we use white to show a grief to a death.?In a word, color is a very important field of people’s basically knowledge. It concerns people’s life closely, carrying b